Patrick Cashin/Metropolitan Transportation Authority
This 2016 image shows a Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department officer and canine at the MTAPD Canine Training Facility in Stormville, N.Y.
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) launched the Enhanced Transit Safety and Crime Prevention Initiative on July 13.
“Transit worker and rider safety is a top priority for the Biden-Harris Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation. Public transit is a safe form of transportation. Transit workers should expect a safe workplace and riders should expect a safe trip,” FTA said in a post announcing the initiative.
The program provides information and resources to help transit agencies address and prevent crime and protect riders and employees.
The National Transit Institute offers several courses on assault awareness and prevention and violence in the transit workplace for both transit system employees and train-the-trainer. The virtual courses are held between July and September and last a total of 3.5 hours.
FTA also assembled a funding sources factsheet for the initiative to help agencies understand which pools of federal funding can support certain safety-focused expenditures.
